In 1980 violence in Jamaica had reached civil war levels. A parliamentary candidate was killed, and the possibility of bullets and not ballots determining political power became a frightening reality. (True we had fewer murders in 1980 than 1997. But such violence was then unprecedented in our history. We have alas become insensitive.)

Never had the nation’s democratic institutions seemed so in danger. A kind of collective hysteria seemed to have overtaken intelligent men like Michael Manley and D.K. Duncan. They publicly espoused greater admiration for the dictatorship of Castro’s Cuba than for the liberal democracy of Britain and America, and allowed Cuban ambassador Ulisees Estrada to attack the workings of Jamaican democracy with impunity. The state of emergency, the jailing of opposition politicians, and the police state like FIU now seem like unbelievable nightmares. Could such things really have been in a country holds so dear the rule of law? But happen they did.

The Jamaicans at home and abroad who jubilantly welcomed ‘deliverance’ on October 30, 1980 were celebrating not merely a partisan win, but a victory for the nation. We had proved to the world and ourselves that our commitment to democracy was stronger than the almost uncontrollable passions which ideological politics and leadership cults can engender.

To Michael Manley’s credit, he allowed the people to speak, accepted their verdict, and graciously handed over the reins of government. But then it was his disastrous economic policies and extremist flirtations that had brought us to the brink of authoritarian rule. The man who saved Jamaican democracy in 1980 was Edward Seaga. Without his determination and courage, there would have been no effective opposition. Had he not held fast and rallied the forces of democracy, who can say how many of the freedoms we take for granted would have remained?

Mr. Seaga proved to be one of the ablest and hardest working Prime Ministers this country has known, and brought Jamaica back from the brink of the abyss. During his regime investor confidence was restored, inflation was low, the crime rate was stable, and the streets of Kingston were garbage free. But his statist economic policies failed to generate consistent GDP growth and more than doubled the national debt.

Since 1985 the Edward Seaga led JLP has lost six consecutive elections. The Jamaican people clearly do not want him to be Prime Minister again. For one thing Mr. Seaga governed in a manner which Jamaicans did not really like. People generally resent hectoring and harshly administered economic medicine, even when they bring results. Margaret Thatcher bullied Britain into prosperity yet was eventually rejected by the populace.

Then too, many feel Mr. Seaga is not the man he was, and judging from the millions he reportedly owes in back taxes, they are probably right. At any rate, national leaders usually make their greatest contributions in their first ten years or so of rule. After that stamina wanes and the habit of power begins to corrupt. The United States recognizes this in its constitution, and limits presidents to two terms.

As Napoleon once remarked  ‘A man is only a man. If circumstances are not favourable, he is nothing.’ People do not vote for an individual, but for someone to do a job. The electorate’s question is not ‘What have you done for me in the past?’, but ‘Can you handle the problems we are facing now?’. No leader was ever of greater service to his country than Winston Churchill in World War Two. Yet the British people rejected him at the polls before his triumph was even complete. He was a magnificent leader in war, but the electorate felt Clement Atlee would be a better one in peace.

Of course politicians rarely give up power voluntarily.  Margaret Thatcher had to be forced out by erstwhile colleagues when she lost touch with the electorate. His deputies are as much to blame for the JLP’s disintegration as Mr. Seaga. They should have united around one person and given Mr. Seaga no option but to resign or be defeated in a party poll. Instead they short-sightedly put their individual leadership ambitions before all else and have chosen to fight among themselves until only one is left standing.

The current PNP government is clearly unpopular. After ten years and three terms  it has, like most entrenched parties, grown fat and lazy. Yet it would be odds on to win any election held today. In its current divided state and with an unpopular leader, the JLP has virtually no credibility as an alternative government in waiting. While Mr. Seaga remains leader of the opposition, Jamaica is in effect a one party state and our democracy is in peril.

The essence of democracy is choice. What generally makes elected politicians put the welfare of the people before personal aggrandizement is the realization that if they don’t, someone else will promise to, and people will vote for that opposition. Ultimately all political checks and balances rest on the willingness and ability of the populace to vote misbehaving ministers and parties out of office. A government which has no fear of losing power will, more often than not, do as it pleases and not as the people wish. As William Pitt said ‘Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it.’

If Mr. Seaga really has the nation’s interest at heart, he should announce his forthcoming retirement and ensure that a new JLP leader is chosen freely and fairly. The contest should be open to all comers including perhaps Bruce Golding, Audley Shaw, Mike Henry, Pearnell Charles, Babsy Grange or any other suitable candidate.

Mr. Seaga would likely not be in his current financial straits had he concentrated his energies on personal business matters. Which is why few Jamaicans wish to see him publicly humiliated. A man who has devoted his entire life to serving the nation should be allowed to retire with dignity.

If Edward Seaga puts country before ego and gracefully leaves a united JLP behind him, he will have performed almost as great a service to the nation as in 1980. Then people might say of him as Shakespeare’s Macbeth, ‘Nothing in his life became him like the leaving it.’

But if Mr. Seaga chooses to hang on to his present illusion of power at any cost, he will forfeit all sympathy. The public will forget the services he performed for his country, and all may be lost for him, including honour. And history may then remember him not as a saviour of Jamaican democracy, but as one of its destroyers.